Laser printers and other electrophotographic image forming devices for both black-and-white and color printing technologies use toner particles to form a desired image on print media. The print media is often paper, although a wide variety of different print media may be employed. Once the toner is applied to the media, the media is advanced along a media path to a thermal fuser. In some image forming devices, the fuser includes a fuser roller and a mating pressure roller. As the media passes between the fuser roller and the pressure roller, the toner is fused to the media through a process using pressure and heat exceeding 300° F. (148° C.).
The interference area between the fuser roller and the pressure roller is often referred to as the nip. It is desirable to maintain a substantially uniform pressure in the nip. Uneven, or non-uniform pressure may result in degraded print quality, wrinkled print media, or other undesirable consequences.
Therefore, it is desirable to develop a roller composition that provides low composite hardness, low compression set, and extended life over that of current soft pressure rollers used for printer fusing application.